Comments for Mission Ashtanga http://www.missionashtanga.com Mysore Style Ashtanga Yoga in San Francisco with Devorah Sacks & Chad Herst Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:03:23 +0100 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on The Drishti: Looking Out & Looking In by chad http://www.missionashtanga.com/2012/the-drishti-conscious-looking/#comment-177 chad Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:03:23 +0000 http://www.missionashtanga.com/?p=1043#comment-177 Thanks, Les. That question, "Who is it that's doing the yoga?" is a profound one. That's the one that the practice is pointing to, only the propensity of most practitioners is to forget this one and get bogged down by stuff like, "what's the proper way to hold my hands when I am in trikonasana, with the fingers together, finger apart or jnana mudra?" Crazy shit. Thanks, Les. That question, “Who is it that’s doing the yoga?” is a profound one. That’s the one that the practice is pointing to, only the propensity of most practitioners is to forget this one and get bogged down by stuff like, “what’s the proper way to hold my hands when I am in trikonasana, with the fingers together, finger apart or jnana mudra?” Crazy shit.

]]> Comment on The Drishti: Looking Out & Looking In by Les http://www.missionashtanga.com/2012/the-drishti-conscious-looking/#comment-176 Les Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:26:25 +0000 http://www.missionashtanga.com/?p=1043#comment-176 Chad, Wonderful dissertation. I think you really captured so much. Who is it that's doing the yoga? Thanks! Chad, Wonderful dissertation. I think you really captured so much. Who is it that’s doing the yoga? Thanks!

]]> Comment on The So-Called Tradition of Ashtanga by Mary http://www.missionashtanga.com/2011/the-so-called-tradition-of-ashtanga/#comment-175 Mary Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:31:59 +0000 http://184.172.187.209/~cherst/missionashtanga.com/?p=487#comment-175 Bravo! I am so delighted to read someone articulate what must surely be the thoughts of thousands of Ashtanga lovers worldwide. I fell in love with Ashtanga over 12 years ago, when what attracted me was the freedom and fluidity of the practice. I was very lucky to have a first generation teacher here in London who had studied with Guruji and most certainly adapted the practice to the student, and not the other way around. Were I to come new to Ashtanga today, and walk into the austere, rigid, and competitive atmosphere that so often prevails in many Ashtanga shalas, I think I'd have run screaming from the place! I never did see any virtue in self-flaggelation. And certainly not in extremism - how can there be anything remotely yogic in the idea that "my way is right, and yours is wrong". How can any sane, thinking, intelligent person truly believe that the practice has been "pure and unadulterated" for thousands of years? Thank you for writing this. Please, please keep writing - there are not enough voices out there expressing what many of us feel. We need to speak up and be heard to protect the good reputation of this beautiful, joyful practice. Bravo! I am so delighted to read someone articulate what must surely be the thoughts of thousands of Ashtanga lovers worldwide. I fell in love with Ashtanga over 12 years ago, when what attracted me was the freedom and fluidity of the practice. I was very lucky to have a first generation teacher here in London who had studied with Guruji and most certainly adapted the practice to the student, and not the other way around. Were I to come new to Ashtanga today, and walk into the austere, rigid, and competitive atmosphere that so often prevails in many Ashtanga shalas, I think I’d have run screaming from the place! I never did see any virtue in self-flaggelation. And certainly not in extremism – how can there be anything remotely yogic in the idea that “my way is right, and yours is wrong”. How can any sane, thinking, intelligent person truly believe that the practice has been “pure and unadulterated” for thousands of years? Thank you for writing this. Please, please keep writing – there are not enough voices out there expressing what many of us feel. We need to speak up and be heard to protect the good reputation of this beautiful, joyful practice.

]]> Comment on Ashtanga Yoga: The Tradition and The Dogma by Luke Jordan http://www.missionashtanga.com/2012/the-tradition-and-the-dogma/#comment-173 Luke Jordan Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:24:17 +0000 http://www.missionashtanga.com/?p=1025#comment-173 Great article Chad. Well balanced and intelligent. I like how you are thinking. Much love... Great article Chad. Well balanced and intelligent. I like how you are thinking. Much love…

]]> Comment on Ashtanga Yoga: The Tradition and The Dogma by Derick http://www.missionashtanga.com/2012/the-tradition-and-the-dogma/#comment-172 Derick Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:26:01 +0000 http://www.missionashtanga.com/?p=1025#comment-172 What an incredible read!! I hope you don't mind if I link your post to our Facebook page (Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver). You have brought up issues that I am sure both teachers and students alike have pondered over for several years throughout their practice. There really is a very fine line (and balance) between what is traditionally-done and what is "modified" for the practitioner. What an incredible read!! I hope you don’t mind if I link your post to our Facebook page (Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver). You have brought up issues that I am sure both teachers and students alike have pondered over for several years throughout their practice. There really is a very fine line (and balance) between what is traditionally-done and what is “modified” for the practitioner.

]]> Comment on Ashtanga Yoga: The Tradition and The Dogma by MindiTheMagnificent http://www.missionashtanga.com/2012/the-tradition-and-the-dogma/#comment-171 MindiTheMagnificent Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:13:12 +0000 http://www.missionashtanga.com/?p=1025#comment-171 I ran across this at a very timely place in my practice. I am very new to Ashtanga, love it deeply, and am learning what I can. Thank you so much for addressing this very important and personal topic! ~Mindi in Spokane, WA www.spokaneyogashala.om I ran across this at a very timely place in my practice. I am very new to Ashtanga, love it deeply, and am learning what I can.

Thank you so much for addressing this very important and personal topic!

~Mindi in Spokane, WA
http://www.spokaneyogashala.om

]]> Comment on The So-Called Tradition of Ashtanga by jgs http://www.missionashtanga.com/2011/the-so-called-tradition-of-ashtanga/#comment-164 jgs Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:25:50 +0000 http://184.172.187.209/~cherst/missionashtanga.com/?p=487#comment-164 B.K.S. Iyengar mentions the "Yoga Korunta" in an interview that is included in the book "70 Glorious Years of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar (Commemorative Volume), published in 1990 on account of his 70th birthday. I have noticed that no one has ever made reference to it in their discussions of the "Yoga Korunta" as it applies to Jois, Krishnamacharya, and the ashtanga lineage. In the book, The following question is put to Iyengar: "Exactly when was this idea to use props born in you?" To which Iyengar replies: "My Guru [Krishnamacharya] had a handwritten book on yoga called 'Yoga Kurunta' in Sanskrit language. In that book, there was a mention of wall ropes, like step-ladders. Except, for one or two asanas, it was not as helpful as our 'loose' ropes which gives more flexibility and scope for adjustment. My Guru was using two rings which restrict the movements of the body. The full range of action through loose ropes was my idea. All the props used now like chairs, slanting planks, bricks are my own inventions, except the hanging ropes. By the by, Kurunti means puppet, a wooden doll. Puppet-show is well known all over the world. So 'Yoga Kurunta' is a method in which one learns to manipulate one's own body in various yoga postures by means of a suspended rope as if one were a puppet. Here the puppeteer and puppet are one, performing their own puppet show (pages 392-393)." B.K.S. Iyengar mentions the “Yoga Korunta” in an interview that is included in the book “70 Glorious Years of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar (Commemorative Volume), published in 1990 on account of his 70th birthday. I have noticed that no one has ever made reference to it in their discussions of the “Yoga Korunta” as it applies to Jois, Krishnamacharya, and the ashtanga lineage. In the book, The following question is put to Iyengar: “Exactly when was this idea to use props born in you?” To which Iyengar replies: “My Guru [Krishnamacharya] had a handwritten book on yoga called ‘Yoga Kurunta’ in Sanskrit language. In that book, there was a mention of wall ropes, like step-ladders. Except, for one or two asanas, it was not as helpful as our ‘loose’ ropes which gives more flexibility and scope for adjustment. My Guru was using two rings which restrict the movements of the body. The full range of action through loose ropes was my idea. All the props used now like chairs, slanting planks, bricks are my own inventions, except the hanging ropes.
By the by, Kurunti means puppet, a wooden doll. Puppet-show is well known all over the world. So ‘Yoga Kurunta’ is a method in which one learns to manipulate one’s own body in various yoga postures by means of a suspended rope as if one were a puppet. Here the puppeteer and puppet are one, performing their own puppet show (pages 392-393).”

]]> Comment on The So-Called Tradition of Ashtanga by jgs http://www.missionashtanga.com/2011/the-so-called-tradition-of-ashtanga/#comment-163 jgs Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:01:58 +0000 http://184.172.187.209/~cherst/missionashtanga.com/?p=487#comment-163 Fantastic article. Thank you for having the courage to write this. Fantastic article. Thank you for having the courage to write this.

]]> Comment on About Us by Anonymous http://www.missionashtanga.com/teachers/#comment-162 Anonymous Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:17:43 +0000 http://mission-ashtanga.dev/?page_id=8#comment-162 Comment on Sthira Sukham Asanam by devorah Sacks http://www.missionashtanga.com/2011/600/#comment-154 devorah Sacks Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:39:52 +0000 http://www.missionashtanga.com/?p=600#comment-154 Thanks so much for your response. I'm wondering if you ever got any help for the initial injury that happened. I would recommend you find someone who does either cranial sacral work or perhaps a very wise chiropractor. If you are working with someone good than they can help you to understand exactly what is going on so you know how to move, both in practice and in life, in a way that supports you optimally. As far as practice is concerned, modifications are a must if you are continually feeling strain during or after practice. Stopping practice will only help maintain the weakness so keep practicing but do so with intention. Keep particular attention on the bandhas as they are what will keep you strong , protected, and connected. Strange as it sounds you will suffer less if you learn to accept and welcome the pain that is there. By doing so you are learning how to most appropriately respond to your body and the messages it reveals to you. This is what ultimately brings us healing. We can only be where we are and if your back is hurting it is needing something....support, strength, etc. But all pain, physical or emotional, must be met or it will keep coming back until it is. I know how frustrating it can be to feel limited physically and I know it feels as if this pain is getting in the way of your practice but I found my healing truly began when i was able i to realize that my physical pain was a part of my practice. It was arising as a result of practice and asking for attention. Once I made this shift inside myself, my physical pain became more of an ally for me, helping me to know when I was not fully present. Thanks so much for your response. I’m wondering if you ever got any help for the initial injury that happened. I would recommend you find someone who does either cranial sacral work or perhaps a very wise chiropractor. If you are working with someone good than they can help you to understand exactly what is going on so you know how to move, both in practice and in life, in a way that supports you optimally.
As far as practice is concerned, modifications are a must if you are continually feeling strain during or after practice. Stopping practice will only help maintain the weakness so keep practicing but do so with intention. Keep particular attention on the bandhas as they are what will keep you strong , protected, and connected.
Strange as it sounds you will suffer less if you learn to accept and welcome the pain that is there. By doing so you are learning how to most appropriately respond to your body and the messages it reveals to you. This is what ultimately brings us healing. We can only be where we are and if your back is hurting it is needing something….support, strength, etc. But all pain, physical or emotional, must be met or it will keep coming back until it is.
I know how frustrating it can be to feel limited physically and I know it feels as if this pain is getting in the way of your practice but I found my healing truly began when i was able i to realize that my physical pain was a part of my practice. It was arising as a result of practice and asking for attention. Once I made this shift inside myself, my physical pain became more of an ally for me, helping me to know when I was not fully present.

]]>